The Chosen of Mana
by Disco Sisko
Summary: The life, the lies, the thoughts, the feelings. On the road to death, how do you keep smiling? What seperates good from evil? When your world is falling apart, how do you rebuild? Indepth novelization of the game from Colette's point of view.
1. Chapter I: A prologue

_Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: "You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed." The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world._

The opening verse to the "Ballad of World Regeneration". Every child, from Luin to Palmacosta, to my little village of Iselia, learned it, usually before they could walk. I reflected on this verse as the sunlight blazed through my windows, forcing its way to my eyes despite my wishes otherwise. Sitting up, I decided to get it over with and quickly opened my eyes to the incoming light.

Big mistake.

"Ow!" The words came unbidden as my eyes burned from the light, while I flinched and moved away from the light. Apparently, it was brighter than I thought outside. Also apparently, I had drifted over to the side of the bed in the night, causing an all too familiar wake up routine as gravity took over and my body came crashing down on the floor.

"Colette? Are you okay?" The voice was familiar, as was the tone-worried, but not terribly much so. This did happen about once or twice a week, after all.

"Just fine, Grandmother!" I stopped a groan from my throat as I climbed to my feet. As I glanced at the mirror near my window, I couldn't help but laugh. What would the priests say if I accepted the oracle looking like _this_? My pajamas were half falling off, my eyes looked like someone had rubbed dirt on them, and my hair was standing more up than down, giving me a monstrous look. Regardless, I grabbed my hairbrush and began the long process of fixing my hair. While I was doing this, the smell of breakfast being cooked floated up to my room, not helping the situation at all. I always woke up hungry, which was further complicated by the fact that there was a large amount of foods I refused to eat. Nevertheless, by the time my hair was finished, I could tell that it would take all my willpower to keep from simply eating my own hand out of desperation.

I reached into my closet and pulled out the clothes I would wear today. The white coat with blue trim, the similar looking shirt, and the black pants-all of it designed to identify me as someone different than the rest. In a cruel twist of fate, they were also my only clothes suitable for traveling much of anywhere. Interestingly, they were also suited for making me appear as unattractive as possible. As if that needed much help. My hair was always dirty, my face too fat, and I had a flatter chest than most boys. Still, none of that mattered in who I was.

I looked at the map on the wall. Every map of Sylvarant, no matter how fancy or simple, had the location of the Tower of Salvation in the center. Even when the tower wasn't visible, the location never changed. I faced east, towards the tower, knelt down, and put my hands together. "O holy goddess of mana, I beg of thee, hear my words." _Please, Goddess Martel, guide me through this day and the trials that await me. Grant me the strength to fulfill my duty_. Prayers were never said aloud. They were a sacred communication between the devout and the Goddess, and none other. I rose from my floor and hoped that I had been heard.

As I stumbled down the stairs and to the table where Father and Grandmother were already seated with breakfast, I thought about what the day would bring. Professor Sage would be covering the World Regeneration today. Not surprising. Today _is_ the Day of Prophecy, after all.

After I ate breakfast, I continued to get ready for school. My white gloves were sitting on the dresser, right where I'd left them. My boots, matching my clothes, were near my bed, ready to be tripped over. In the corner sat my belt and my chakrams. Like every Iselian, I'd been trained in self defense all my life. Between wild animals, monsters, and the Desians who had a human ranch only a few miles away, being able to fight back was quite useful. The chakrams themselves were special. While the makeup was plain, there was a gem in the edge of each that would call it back to its owners hand on need. This was useful if for no other reason than because the chakrams were the one thing I hadn't managed to lose at some point. I put the belt on and clipped the discs to it.

With this, I was now ready for school, so I walked downstairs and said goodbye to my father and grandmother.

"Colette!"

I turned to the voice of Grandmother, wondering what I could have forgotten.

"Remember that I will be at the temple for the oracle today."

"Oh, yes, thank you!" I'd forgotten she'd be there. I turned and left for the schoolhouse on the other side of the village.


	2. Chapter II: Old familiar scent of Iselia

Professor Sage's schoolhouse was on the other side of town. I was good friends with her younger brother Genis. Genis was only twelve but he acted several years older, which was fine with me, since that would make him about my age, as of today. As I walked to the schoolhouse, waving to people I knew, I wondered how I'd forgotten about that. I'd been so worried about today being the Day of Prophecy that I'd forgotten that it was also my sixteenth birthday. Maybe it was excusable. I'd been quite hungry, after all.

"Raine, see, this is why I make breakfast."

"Genis, you were up all night making cookies for Colette. How could I possibly let you wake up after that and make breakfast?"

"You put peppermint in scrambled eggs!"

I giggled to myself as I heard the two familiar voices from the general store. I walked over and opened the door. There was a sign in the window, faded, saying "Halo". Why the store had a name I'd never guessed. It wasn't like Iselia had any other stores.

"Hello Professor Sage. Hi Genis" They turned from the counter and waved to me. It looked like they were buying sandwich ingredients.

"Hello Colette. Happy birthday." Raine Sage was a tell, rather beautiful woman, who was the schoolmistress of Iselia. She and her brother had only been in the village for about ten years. No one knew who they were, but one day they just showed up. No one knew why two elves wanted to settle in such an out of the way place like Iselia, but they did. Genis had only been a toddler at the time, but even then he was a genius at pretty much everything. It was believed that he'd managed to read every single book he'd come across in the village. He waited eagerly for peddlers for stop by the village, bringing news and books. The only person who waited even more eagerly was his sister.

"Professor Sage, did you try cooking again?"

Genis piped up at this. "Yes, she did. Raine, please, just once, could you follow the recipe _exactly_?"

The professor turned red at this. Whether she was more ashamed of being told off by her younger brother or for being wrong, I couldn't tell. "Well, you make scrambled eggs all the time, Genis. I thought it would be nice to have a different flavor in there."

The shopkeeper came back from the storage room, bearing a loaf of bread. "That'll be 375 Gald for the lot of it."

As Professor Sage handed the money over, I wondered to myself what peppermint in scrambled eggs would taste like. Given Genis's reaction to it, and that they were buying breakfast at Halo, I decided I didn't want to know.

The three of us together walked towards the schoolhouse, where the other children of Iselia were waiting. From seven to seventeen, everyone gathered here for four or five days of every week, being taught math, history, art, and literature.

Professor Sage surveyed the students gathered. "Lloyd's late again, I see." She sighed and unlocked the building. "Go in and take your seats everyone." The children all walked in. Me and Genis were the last to begin walking in, when a voice came from down the village path.

"Wait, I'm here too!"

Lloyd Irving, swordmeister of Iselia. At least that's what me and Genis called him, just to tease him. While he looked as cheerful and goofy as ever, Professor Sage, well, did not.

"Hold it right there, Lloyd."

"Yes, professor?" he said as meekly as he could manage.

"How many times have I told you when class begins?"

"Umm...well, there was that day-"

"Too many, Lloyd."

"It's a long walk through the forest!"

The professor sighed at this. I'm sure a part of her wanted to just take her staff and knock Lloyd over the head with it. Then again, she'd tried that, and it hadn't worked one bit.

"Remember the day when I walked with you and we counted exactly how long it takes you to get here from Dirk's house?"

"Yeah, kinda..."

"How long was that?"

"Forty-five minutes, I think."

"Exactly. Try waking up earlier, Lloyd. Genis and Colette here have no problems making it to school on time. Now in the classroom, all of you. Lloyd, as punishment for being late again, you will stand in the back and hold the water buckets I have there." Professor Sage had always kept two buckets of water in the back of the classroom ever since the day Genis had accidently set the back wall on fire. While they'd never seen use for that emergency, it seemed that the professor had found another use for them. Lloyd groaned but said nothing.

The school day was spent covering the Summon Spirits and how their relationship with the Goddess Martel affected the world, as well as the Ancient War and the Desians.

"Now class, tell me, how was the Ancient War ended? Does anyone remember? Lloyd, how about you?"

Silence. Fifteen pairs of eyes turned from their seats to look at Lloyd standing in the back of the room, holding two buckets, facing perfectly forward, with his head bobbed down and his eyes closed.

"Lloyd Irving, wake up!"

In a feat of great accuracy, Professor Sage sent an eraser from one side of the room, over our heads, to the other side right on top of Lloyd's head. His head immediately jumped up as if to say to everyone, _I wasn't sleeping!_

"How do you manage to sleep standing?

"Oh, Professor Raine, is class over?"

She sighed, as if one more minute of dealing with him would drive her over the edge. "Let's have someone else answer the question. Genis, how about you?"

Genis stood up, and put his hands behind him in the all too familiar recitation pose. Either standing that way really did help your memory, or Genis just liked it.

"Mithos, the hero, brought about the end of the Ancient War in the Holy Ground of Kharlan."

"Correct", Professor Sage said with a smile. "Afterwards, Mithos, the hero, formed a pact with the Goddess Martel to seal away the Desians whom caused the war."

As Genis sat back down, Lloyd spluttered from the back of the room. "But the Desians are back and are now causing everyone to suffer!" Professor Sage gave him a look that said plain as day _one more time Lloyd, and I swear to the Goddess Martel-_and the look was gone.

"We covered that in class last time, remember? When the Seal weakens the Desians reappear. Just like they have now."

Lloyd turned red, obviously embarrassed. Probably scared, too. "I..knew that. I just forgot..."

I turned around to look at Lloyd. How had he forgotten anyway? It was just yesterday, and I heard him

behind me answer most of the professor's questions. Still, he had managed to fail the quiz later that day anyway, so maybe it wasn't so surprising.

"Today is the Day of Prophecy. It is a very important day, which the Chosen of Mana will receive an oracle from the Goddess Martel. Now, Chosen One…Colette."

I jumped from my thoughts and hopped to my feet in a pose similar to Genis's. "Yes ma'am?"

"Tell us about the journey of world regeneration."

"It is a journey to seal the Desians. Upon passing the trials of the Goddess Martel, the Summon Spirits that protect the world awaken, and mana is restored." I smiled to myself at my recitation.

"Correct. I suppose we should expect the Chosen herself to know that one. Mana depletion is the cause of the current food shortages and droughts. It is said that this is because the Desians consume vast amounts of mana in their human ranches. The Chosen's journey has two purposes-to revive mana as well as defeat the Desians. Now, for the next question-"

We never got to find out what the next question was. A bright light shone through the window, brighter than the sun and the moon and all the stars put together. Everyone started talking at once.

"Settle down. It would seem that the time for the oracle has come. I will go and check on the chapel. Everyone, stay here and study on your own. Understood?"

Everyone nodded yes, but as the professor hurried out of the room, I had a feeling not even Genis would be studying.

"Professor, I'll go with you!" I wanted to see what the oracle was, after all.

"No Colette. If it is the oracle, the priests will come here for you."

"Yes ma'am." I was saddened. I wanted to find out now!

* * *

Author's Notes: Why do the stores have names? It's not like there's multiples in a town or anything. Anyway, for those keeping track, at about two thousand words, we finally hit the opening scene of the game. These chapters seemed longer when I was typing them. 

And no, I've never tried scrambled eggs and peppermint.

* * *


	3. Chapter III: Full Force

I wondered what the oracle was. Would it be an angel from Cruxis, bringing a message from Heaven itself? Would it perhaps be a note, written in the angelic language I had learned since birth?

"Colette, you want to come along too?"

I hadn't been paying attention at all. "..Huh? Um, okay."

As I walked over, I looked at Genis. He looked rather annoyed, but he was with Lloyd anyway, for whatever it was we were doing.

"So, where to?"

"Where else?! That light! You're directly involved in all of this. Aren't you curious?"

Was I curious? Of course I was! I wasn't even paying attention to the conversation they had been having. How was I supposed to know that's where they were going. I responded with my best attempt at sarcasm: "Hmm...are you curious about it?"

"Of course!"

"Then I'll be curious too!" As they walked out the door in front of me, I shook my head. I know I don't have the best sense of humor, but I thought I sounded at least a little bit sarcastic.

When we walked outside, the village was dead quiet. Instead of the usual gossip and business that one would hear in Iselia, there was nothing. I unclipped my chakrams and saw Lloyd and Genis draw their weapons, as well. Then again, you could hardly call them weapons. A pair of wooden swords and a ball on a string with a stick. More toys than weapons. Still, Lloyd was strong and Genis knew some magic, so it wasn't all bad.

"Colette!" I saw my father running over, out of breath.

"Father! Where is everyone?"

"They're all in hiding. Desians passed through here about twenty minutes ago. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

"Was anyone hurt?" Desians, in the village, today. _Oh Martel, please let everyone be okay_.

"No, they passed straight on to the temple." _Thank you_, I silently prayed as my terror subsided.

Genis jumped in at this. "But we have a non-aggression treaty with the Desians!"

Lloyd, not content to be left out, spoke up. "Yeah, we don't bug them, they don't bug us!"

Father apparently was expecting these questions. "Yes, in order to protect Colette. But Phaidra is still up at the temple."

My fear returned. "Then we need to go, now."

Father seemed to disagree. "But, Colette, it's dangerous. The priests will be able to take care of everything. Just stay here, please."

I shook my head. "No. I must fulfill my duty as the Chosen."

Lloyd walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you're not going alone. It's dangerous up there."

"Yeah, you're not leaving us behind." Genis seemed to be of the same mind as Lloyd.

My father sighed, defeated. "Good luck then. May the light of the Goddess guide you."

"And you too." We all said this in unison, as we hurried out of the village.

At a decent run, the Temple of Martel was only a few minutes away from Iselia. Still, it felt like hours, worried as I was about the priests, about my grandmother, about everyone. What had happened to cause the Desians to break the treaty?

Near the base of the temple, as we climbed a hill, there were a few monsters waiting for us. Lloyd stopped, with me and Genis nearly running into him. "I thought the northern region was a sanctuary!" Lloyd yelled, as we looked over the opposition. A few human looking bodies with flies all around them, and a pair of nearly transparent shapes.

"It must be part of the trial," I responded. "Martel's trial involves battling monsters."

"Who cares, let's just take these things down!"

Lloyd charged at the first corpse and swung both his swords at it, lopping off its head before it could react. He kept going on to one of the strange spirits, and swung at it, only to have his sword pass right through it. I then remembered one of our lessons.

"Lloyd! The professor said magic is more effective than weapons against spiritual monsters!"

He turned around and yelled back to me. "Right! Genis, you take care of the ghosts, me and Colette will handle the zombies!"

At this I moved towards the nearest zombie. All of a sudden, it jumped towards me, as if to squeeze me to death. I swung my right hand up to catch it in midair, but it didn't seem to do any good. The zombie wrapped its arms around me and I could feel it trying to choke the life out of me. I tried and tried to push it off, but it didn't work. Finally, in a desperate attempt, I spun around in a circle, and that threw it off of me. It got up and tried to charge me again. This time, I was ready. I flung both my chakrams at it, one right after the other, sawing its body in half. As it fell, it turned to dust, its soul put to rest.

I turned towards Lloyd and Genis and saw how they had fared. Genis had just sent a wave of fireballs at one of the ghosts. I didn't see the other one, so he must have already killed it. Despite looking like a toy, his kendama served well for amplifying magic. As the fireballs hit the ghost and vaporized it, we all looked around. Nothing else seemed to be attacking us.

"You two all right?"

Me and Genis nodded. "Let's hurry up to the temple." Genis and Lloyd nodded at that. It wasn't going to get any easier.

* * *

Author's Note: I moved the introductory battles outside of the village, so sue me. 


	4. Chapter IV: Keep your guard up!

As we approached the staircase leading up to the temple, we saw a giant pillar of light rising up from the center of the chapel.

"So that light really is coming from the temple!" Lloyd stated helpfully.

Genis seemed to think his thought through a bit more. "The oracle is going to be conveyed. Colette is going to become the Chosen of Regeneration."

_Oh holy light of Martel, this is really happening. Oh no, what if Lloyd and Genis find out? I hope the oracle whatever is it, doesn't say what happens._ At the same time: _Why are we standing here? The Desians are here!_ Every single thought it my mind collapsed into nothing as the next though fell from my mind to my mouth: "It's really really bright!"

There was a complete silence for at least five seconds. "You know, Colette. You're going to be the Chosen who saves the world. You're going to be like the hero, Mithos. So, maybe you should act a little more, I don't know...Chosen-like?"

"Right, right!"

Genis walked forward. "Hey, it sounds like there's a commotion up at the temple!"

"Let's go!"

We ran up the temple stairs, and were stopped short by a horrific sight. Blood over his body, his limbs in twisted positions, was the head priest of the temple. He was dead, but I couldn't stop myself from crouching down and checking to see if there was some sort of pulse.

"He's gone, Colette." As Lloyd helped me to my feet, I could barely hold my tears back. I turned away from them, towards the stairs, and then I let them fall. All around I could see what we hadn't before. Priests and priestesses, clerics and monks and nuns, every member of the clergy possible, all their bodies were scattered about, as if some unstoppable force had simply run them down, and thrown them away like half eaten fruit. The only relief was that I couldn't see Grandmother, but would I even know it if I did?

As I blinked away the last of my tears, I said softly to Lloyd and Genis. "I'm going."

Genis obviously sensed my intent. "Colette, there are Desians up there!"

Of course there were. I knew that. It didn't matter. I was the Chosen of Mana. My duty was to stop the Desians. Nothing else mattered. "I'm the Chosen, Genis. My job is the accept the oracle and seal the Desians. I have to go. I have to."

"Lloyd! Are you going to let her go by herself?"

I heard him walk towards me. "Dwarven Vow number one: Let's all work together for a peaceful world. Come on, Colette."

Genis followed us. "I'm worried about Raine, too", he said by way of explanation. I'd forgotten all about the Professor.

When we climbed the last step, I saw my grandmother being held down by two Desian soldiers.

"Where is the Chosen?" The speaker was a large, heavy set man with a strange accent.

Grandmother saw me yelled as loud as I'd ever heard her yell. "Run, Colette!"

"Lord Botta, there she is!"

The man, Botta, walked towards us. He was obviously the leader. "Chosen One, your life is mine!" All of a sudden, he seemed to be caught with a terrible pain. "Damn, not this again. Vidarr, take care of them."

All of a sudden, two more soldiers came running out of the temple. "I won't let you Desians get away with anything!"

One of the soldiers laughed. "Desians? He thinks we're Desians." His partner chuckled too. "Well then, die at the hands of the Desians you so hate!"

They began to charge towards us, but then a giant crash on the ground threw them off balance, as they fell down. They began to get up, but we didn't notice. There was a large, heavily armored soldier with a spiked ball and chain, as well as a broad sword strapped to his side.

"Do not get in our way."

He swung the ball towards us, and we jumped out of the way. Lloyd and Genis jumped to the left while I rolled to the right, towards the fence separating the temple from the surrounding grass. Genis yelled and sent a horde of fire at the soldier, having little effect.

"This guy's really strong!", he yelled. I had to agree. What could possibly take him down? As the soldier stomped towards Lloyd and Genis, he started to swing his spiked ball again. He flung it towards Lloyd and Genis, and then it stopped.

As if he had run up the hill and jumped over my two friends, a strange warrior in red and dark purple blocked the weapon as though it were nothing. He turned towards Lloyd and Genis and issued one command: "Get out of the way."

The strange warrior took his sword and started to attack the armored soldier. As the swordsman hacked away at the armor of his opponent, bits and pieces of it fell to the ground until his entire suit of armor was stripped, leaving only a large, muscular man with a Desian uniform.

All of a sudden, the Desian drew his broadsword and knocked the mysterious warrior to the side. He charged towards Lloyd and Genis, who had no room to run anywhere. The swordsman was racing to intercept, but he wasn't going to make it in time. All of a sudden, as if possessed by someone else, I focused my power and threw a chakram at a blazingly fast speed, faster than I had ever seen anything move. The chakram itself seemed to turn into a bolt of light. It turned in midair just before reaching the soldier, and cut right across his exposed neck, causing blood to pour out onto the ground as the soldier fell, while the chakram sailed into the wall of the temple and fell down harmlessly.

I ran over the the soldier, realizing what had happened. I knelt down next to him, as Lloyd, Genis, and the mysterious swordsman came over too.

"Damn, never thought you'd show up. Retreat for now!" The soldiers holding Grandmother released her and they retreated with their comrades that had been knocked away by the armored soldier.

Still crouched down by the soldier, I listened and realized that he was dead. _And it's all my fault._

"Colette-" Lloyd began.

"Holy Goddess of Mana, hear these words." While prayers were always silent, a blessing unsaid meant nothing. "Accept this soul into thine embrace. Grant him your blessing of light and your forgiveness for his sins."

"Colette, he tried to kill-"

"May you watch over this soul, and guide him to the next life with grace and wisdom. This I, your humble servant, do ask of you."

I stood up and looked at everyone.

"Is everyone alright? You all seem fine." The mysterious swordsman spoke for the second time. He had a strange voice, both harsh and calming at the same time.

"How can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?"

The swordsman looked at me strangely, as if he was expecting someone else. "I see...so this girl is the next Chosen?

I met the swordsman's eyes. "That's right. I have to go undergo the trial. I am to receive judgment from heaven."

Grandmother looked around. "But the priests that were to accompany her fell at the hands of the Desians, and there are monsters in the chapel."

Lloyd decided to jump in at this moment. "Then I'll protect Colette!"

"Lloyd, I would be uneasy with just you."

The swordsman looked at Lloyd. "Your name is Lloyd?"

"Yeah, but who are you to ask for my name?"

"Very well. I am Kratos, a mercenary. As long as you can pay me, I'll accept the job of guarding the Chosen."

Grandmother seemed to think this over for a moment. "It seems we have little choice."

Lloyd walked towards me. "I'm going too."

The mercenary, Kratos, glared at Lloyd. "This isn't a field trip, you know. Be a good boy and stay here."

"Fine then, I'll just follow you on my own then. Come on, Genis!"

"Wait, what?" Genis was obviously not expecting to be included.

Kratos laughed at that as we all walked towards the entrance. "You're a stubborn kid, you know that?"

As we walked into the temple, I was worried about Genis and Lloyd seeing the oracle with me. Then again, I was also glad they were with me.

* * *

Author's Notes: So yeah, if you couldn't guess, I typed up these first four chapters more or less at the same time and then separated them.

On Botta: Why doesn't he fight the team at the Martel Temple? I have an explanation for that, but I'll be dammed if you're finding it out this early.

As for the rather large amount of death so far, what, you don't think the priests, not to mention the "Desians" were just fed sleeping pills, do you? Someone had to strike the killing blow on Vidarr, and I felt it would help develop Colette's character if she did. After all, she's fighting to save lives, not destroy them.


	5. Chapter V: A Chapel

I'd forgotten how big the Martel Temple was on the inside. Stained glass windows depicting the journey of Spiritua, the first Chosen of Mana, rows of pews for ceremonies, and doors lining each wall, leading to meeting rooms, living areas, and offices. However, the most significant feature was one you had to look for-a giant map of Sylvarant covering the entire floor. Directly in the center of the room, as it should be, was the location of the Tower of Salvation.

"Colette, you left this outside."

I turned to the voice. It was Lloyd, holding the chakram I'd thrown earlier, the one that had...I didn't even want to think about it. It was hard not to, though. The disc itself was in perfect condition, but you could see the trail of red on the side, a reminder of what I had done.

Had I done the right thing? I hadn't even thought about it, really. I took the chakram from Lloyd and clipped it to my belt, and looked up above the entrance. From inside the chapel, the door looked to be the trunk of a giant tree, as it rose up to the heavens. Looking higher, I could see clouds and what seemed to be winged people flying among them.

Why hadn't I ever seen that before? Was it because it was only now that I cared? Had I always been a selfish child, taking everything around me for granted? I'd never realized it before, but the entire ceiling was painted in that image, and most of the upper wall as well. The only exception was at the other end of the chapel, above the altar. There was a painting of a beautiful woman there, with a smile both stern and forgiving, that of a mother to her child. The Goddess Martel.

I don't know why I did. Maybe it was guilt? A desire to be forgiven, or to make amends, or something, I don't know. But I knelt down towards the painting, towards Her, and I prayed. I prayed that I had done right, that I would do right, that everything would be alright. By the end of my prayer, I was crying.

I shook away my tears. Enough of that. While I rose, I thought for a moment. Where was I to receive the oracle?

"Colette! You're alright!" The voice of Professor Sage brought me back to reality. "When the Desians came, we were worried they'd find you." In fact, it wasn't just Professor Sage, but a small group of people, mostly young adults and children. Apparently not everyone had been killed by the Desians.

"Raine! I was worried! Where were you?" Genis was practically flying to his sister, overjoyed to see her unharmed.

"When the Desians came in here, I was with these children at the time. We found a hidden area and waited there until it sounded like it was safe to come out. What happened up here?"

Me, Lloyd, and Genis all looked at each other. None of us wanted to say what had happened. Luckily for us, Kratos took over.

"The Desians attacked the temple, looking for the Chosen, and killed most of the priests here. I had been tracking them for some time when I came upon their champion attacking these three here. We managed to kill him and forced the others to retreat."

The teacher gave Kratos a look. It was a look all of her students had seen before, especially Lloyd. It was a look that said _I know there's more_. She looked at each of us in turn, and I was the last. I couldn't meet her eyes. I guess she wanted to ask me a question, ask if there was more to the story, if I was hurt, if I was-

"Colette." Her voice brought me out of my head and back to the temple. "I believe the chamber we found leads to where you recieve the oracle."

"I understand." As I, followed by Lloyd, Genis, and Kratos, proceeded to the back of the temple, an idea occured to me. "Professor, could you help my grandmother back to the village? They," I looked at my companions, "are going to guard me as we go to wherever I get the oracle from." I did my best to sound cheerful, as if it was all a game.

"I'll do that. Be safe, Colette. Lloyd, Genis, later we'll talk about following directions."

As she left, I heard Lloyd question Genis about that comment. "What did we do wrong now?"

I could hear Genis sigh as if he was talking to a toddler. "Maybe because we didn't stay in the schoolhouse?"

"Oh, right." Then again, when it came to Lloyd, sometimes there wasn't much difference.

Behind the altar was a staircase leading down. Maybe there had been some sort of switch. I remembered reading fragmented accounts of those who journeyed with past Chosens. It had been in the angelic language, and a lot had word away or faded, but I what was there was helpful, and I hadn't forgotten it.

"It's dangerous down here." Everyone paused to look at me. "I read about the seals. There are lots of traps down here."

"I kinda guessed." Lloyd said this casually as he passed me and walked down the stairs. "What kind of dangerous place has monsters and not traps?" Despite everything, I couldn't help but laugh at this. That was Lloyd, always pointing out the obvious.

"Thanks Lloyd. I don't know what me and Colette would do if we didn't have the swordmeister of Iselia telling us everything we already knew."

As we all began to walk down the stairs-Lloyd first, me second, with Kratos and Genis behind me, Kratos decided to speak up. "Lloyd. Your sword techniques are self-taught?"

"That's right."

"Are you familiar with _tokugi_?"

Lloyd paused, evidently trying to remember if he'd heard the term. "No, I'm not."

"A _Tokugi_ is a combat skill. It's similar to Magic, but it relies less on Mana and more on the user."

"I don't get it."

Kratos sighed. I heard Genis laugh quietly behind me. It was a lot like Lloyd and the Professor, really.

"You can focus your body's energy into a special form of attack." There was silence. Lloyd was trying to grasp the concept. Truth be told, I'm not quite sure I did. I mean, it _sounded_ simple, but really. Elves like Genis and Professor Sage used Magic because they weren't skilled in weapons. Those who could use weapons, like myself and Lloyd, didn't use Magic. Now Kratos was saying that the line was a bit less clear.

Kratos walked to the head of our group, to the bottom of the stairs. Despite being underground and untouched, there were several torches lit. The room we were in was small and circular, and there were three branches leading off. One of them looked like it was blocked by a bunch of rocks. Kratos looked over the area, and stared at the long hallway to the front. It looked like there were some eyes or flames or something down the hallway. Slowly, a large blob of...I don't know what. It was green, and there was something in it, and it didn't feel friendly. It slithered down the stairs, towards our group.

"Lloyd, watch and observe closely." Kratos drew his sword, and gripped it in his hands. He took a step forward, and looked at the advancing blob. "_MAJINKEN!"_ he cried, and his arm flashed as a large wave of light traveled across the ground and into the blob, which promptly fell apart.

We were silent. The closest thing we'd ever seen to that was Genis's fireballs, and those were familiar to us.

Lloyd responded for the rest of us. "Cool! Can you teach me?"

We all laughed, even Kratos, as we proceded to explore the cave.

* * *

Author's Notes: Colette, in a skit, mentions she prays every night. While I do imagine that the Chosen would be a bit more religious than your average Sylvarantian, it's not too much of a stretch to think that the others are as well, if just by virtue of being with Colette. As for how exactly the religion on Sylvarant works, I'm mostly just making it up using what few clues I am given.

_Tokugi_ is the name the Japanese Tales games gives for skills. Well, it's a bit more complex. Tokugi are the lowest level skills-level one. In most Tales games, the next level up is Ougi, but in Symphonia, it's Higi. After that comes Ougi, followed by Hi-Ougi. In ToS for the Gamecube, there are only three Hi-Ougis: Falcon's Crest, Holy Judgment, and Indignation Judgment. I used Tokugi because it sounded better to say than Ougi.

Majinken is merely the Japanese name for Demon Fang. After playing Tales of Phantasia for the SFC, I realized how much cooler it sounded to hear the Japanese quotes.

By the way, is anyone actually reading this? If you hate it, that's fine-suggest how to make this thing better. I understand ToS novelizations are a dime a dozen, though.


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